Neither Desphá, nor Tití asked me and neither did Shake It Off. TikTok users will stop listening to songs by artists linked to Universal Music Group (UMG), one of the largest record labels in the world, which has agreements with artists such as Taylor Swift, Bad Bunny, Rosalía, Aitana, and Billie Eilish. or Alejandro Sanz.
In a statement, the music industry giant announced that it is ready to withdraw the platform's access to its artists' songs starting this Wednesday (January 31) at midnight, which is when the current contract with expires. TikTok.
According to the company, an agreement has not been reached on three critical points: financial compensation for artists and composers, protection against the "harmful effects" of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and greater commitment to online security for users of this network. social.
Universal accused the Shanghai-based technology company of using harassment and intimidation tactics to force it to accept a contract "less fair and with lower value" than the current one.
In the new contract, the platform would have proposed paying "a fee that is a fraction of the fee paid by the main social platforms in similar situations." "Ultimately, TikTok is trying to build a business based on music, without paying fair value for the music," UMG notes.
The music industry giant is not afraid of breaking up with the platform. As they explain in the statement, the collaboration "represents only about 1%" of their total income.
In addition to the economic disagreements, UMG believes that TikTok is not building a safe environment against the "harmful effects of AI." “It is allowing the platform to be flooded with AI-generated recordings, as well as developing tools to enable, promote and encourage AI music creation on the platform itself,” he argues.
Finally, the company accuses TikTok of carrying out intimidating practices: "They want to use the power of their platform to harm vulnerable artists and try to intimidate us into accepting a bad business that undervalues music and defrauds artists and songwriters," they conclude.
